The possibility that Russia will be admitted to Nato is increasing. If so, no doubt any securities will be smooth over. Now, the next step is to see what reaction China will have to it. China, in a sense, will face an even greater encirclment with the USA being the "encircler."

I haven't seen any Russian desire to join
Nato. I feel it would also place heavy restrictions on their foriegn policy.
Something tells me that the Eastern
European jonesing for NATO is just a cold war
hangover. ie let's slap one on the old pact
kind of thing. On the other hand it could be
getting a foot in the door for the Euro and
better trade agreements. My summation is that
NATO has served it's purpose (the pepetual
alliance). It seems the temp coallition thing
is the wave of the future until the Cold War
dust settles. Let's face it, NATO was a very
glacially moving entity. The more the slower.
Still, a lot of folks paychecks still depend on
it. Quite the burocratic entity. (bad spelling)

Actually, Eastern European Countries want to join to ensure that they are never taken over by Russia again. By the way, if NATO is such an anachronism why are there NATO AWACS plans helping with the CAP flights over America, or German Special Forces working with the SAS and Delta in Afghanistan? Simple put NATO gives some of our European Allies the cover they need in order to work with us on a military level.

Russia is not about to opt for membership in NATO and has been opposed to the expansion of NATO to her eastern borders. This is not to say that Russia still sees NATO in Cold War terms, but rather that the terms of membership in NATO place restrictions on members' conduct that Russia right now does not want to have to deal with. Their conflict in Chechnya could become a sticking point, and they don't want to be put on the diplomatic defensive in having to continually explain themselves there.
NATO, in addition, is perfectly happy to have Russian cooperation, but not membership, via the Partnership for Peace program.
Furthermore, even if Russia did join NATO, it would not contribute largely to any kind of strategic encirclement of China. Russia and China are pursuing closer diplomatic and economic ties. They're actually closer now than they were during the Cold War; it was an American affectation to treat the communist bloc as a single monolithic entity. The USSR and China were separate powers, and there was fairly fierce competition between them over spheres of influence in which they both had interests (central and southern Asia in particular). Russia today is a lot easier to get along with.
That being said, Russia is also pursuing closer ties with the West, to the point where they are willing to tolerate a lot that they would traditionally have raised quite a rancor about. The minimal reaction to the withdrawal from the ABM treaty has been one example; the U.S.' expanding presence in Georgia later this month will be another. They have gained greater influence within NATO recently, as their Cold War attitudes have softened and America has begun to put some diplomatic distance between itself and the rest of the "eternal alliance."
On a related note: Russian military affairs have now been assigned to the U.S. European Command, whereas they have traditionally been handled directly by the Joint Chiefs. In theory, Russia borders the territorial responsibilities of the Pacific and Central Commands as well. My guess is that one of the major reasons for assigning Russia as the responsibility of European Command is to both facilitate and accomodate Russia's increasing pro-European orientation. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, the head of European Command, is said to already have fairly cordial ties with a lot of people high in the Russian military establishment.
Russia is actually in an extremely good diplomatic position, though shifting global political tensions could drive them into a balancing act that they'd rather avoid. Nonetheless, they are forming closer political and military ties with all three economic power centers in the world: America, the EU, and China (I realize the EU and NATO are technically different entities, but there is so much membership overlap that they might as well be the same aside from America). I never would have thought that a day would come when Russia would have more friends than we do, but things may well be heading that way. That would be the mother of all ironies.
--Phoenix Rising

The conflict in Chechnya may play favorably in a NATO membership for Russia. There seems to be a growing acknowledgement that Muslim extremists are part, if not all, of the problem in that region. Look at the resent US involvement with Georgia.
Russia and China are pursuing diplomatic and economic ties just as the US is. Isolating China isn?t a good idea for the US. Russia, also, should pursue an active relationship with China. If history is any lesson, economic ties don?t created close friends.
It must be remembered that politically Russia IS democratic. China is NOT. Politically they are opposed as the US and USSR were.

I tend to agree about isolation. Many people
(especially on these posts) tend to create straw
boogiemen for the sheer pleasure of indulging in
speculative paranoia. Trade is good-war is bad.
especially for business. Yes, it is true that
most nations improve their military capability
but that is merely potential energy. When you
deal with a nation just in military/diplomatic
terms you barely scratch the surface. Once heavy
trade and other forms of exchange kick in, you
have the potential to deal with the full spectrum
of what the nation has to offer. This is profitable along many lines and helps damp down
the possibility of horrible miscalculations.
........end of screed.

Actually, I see that as a possiblity in about 10 or 15 years. It would make their eastern boarders more secure, it would allow for more assistance in fighting terror, it would allow greater economic assistance, it would make the area more stable, and, oh yeah, we would have easier access to the oil in central asia.

ok i dnt no how old the post is mostly becauser im too lazy to look but nm that. anyways russia is already a member of nato i have four reputable news atricales on my wall (i like russia) they're a junior member meaning the have no voting power or little i cant remember which but still benifit from all nato regualtions and so forth.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Russia is allowed to attend NATO meetings out of respect and to aliviate any Russian security concerns (read: paranoia) over NATO intensions.
It is also an attempt to incourage Russia to make the kind of political and economic reforms that would make full membership in NATO possible.